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  1. #11
    Setting Up Camp
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    One other point of paramount importance that I left out was being familiar with your holding tanks layout. If your fresh tank is up over the axles the odds are your grey and black tanks will be in front of the fresh towards the truck. Filling those grey and black tanks up with 100 gallons and emptying your fresh tank would have immense impact on TW. You can mod your sewer dump connection cap with one that has a fitting for a standard garden hose connection and leak your grey tank as you use the sink and shower, be sure to know that you operating legally in the area you are camping when employing this method.

  2. #12
    Site Sponsor TerryH's Avatar
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    From our experience and what I've read of other's experiences, you don't have enough hitch. I have a 31G and the class 5 Weigh Safe (20k pull/2k tongue weight rated) has been amazing. There will be a sizeable swing in tongue weight depending on how the trailer is loaded and the adjust on the fly and phone app to guide you is the main advantage to the WS hitch.


    Last edited by TerryH; 04-16-2021 at 05:43 AM.
    2021 Momentum 31G
    2021 20' Haulmark Edge race trailer
    '17 Ram CCLB 3500 dually 6.7 turbo
    '96 Chevy C3500 CC dually 454
    2019 Honda Talon X
    1985 Honda FL350R Odyssey

  3. #13
    Setting Up Camp
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    Apr 2021
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    Katy, Tx
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    Quote Originally Posted by deeuubee View Post
    @Rancher350 -My apologies if I came across sarcastic, it wasn't my intention.
    Sometimes in an attempt to be brief, things don't come out like I intended.

    I can see the point on your trailer. My brain thinks every trailer is a toyhauler with heavier tongue weights.
    .
    No doubt my situation is of my own doing.
    Cancelling the trip I was going on right from the dealer, and then another 10 hour round trip back and forth to the dealer another day weakened my good judgement. I'm in no way blaming the dealer for this. They say they use that set up for that trailer all the time.
    Maybe after I set up and weight this weekend, I'll feel the same way. Best case scenario, I'm wrong and apologize again.
    Worst case, I'm right and have to get different equipment.
    No worries and good luck.

  4. #14
    Setting Up Camp
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    Feb 2021
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    North Florida
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    I'd say have a serious conversation with the dealer GM. There is a significant liability to them to get this wrong. When I bought my rig the very first question out of their mouth was "what are you pulling it with?". Hitch setup is a major part of that equation. If it makes you uncomfortable, I'd say it needs another look.

    I'm no engineer but there are enough experienced people on this board that can validate your analysis. Personally, I'd rather overspec and have some wiggle room than not.

    A spacer is BS flat out. I'd say get a B&W. Not cheap but serious overspec.
    Last edited by TSeck954; 04-18-2021 at 05:38 AM.

  5. #15
    Fireside Member
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    Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Hopefully I can work something out with them.

    I bought a Sherline TW scale. On a quick check, loaded up with water and no M/C, I have 1600 lbs. on the tongue.
    Throw in the M/C, and I can get it down to 1400 lbs. Either way, I'm over the 12K bar limit.
    The 5 hour drive from the dealer was uneventful, but the steering did feel a little light.
    When I go to the scales this week, I'll adjust it to balance the weight best I can and see. It's nice living close to the scales.
    For sure I need the 2.5" shank.
    The one I have has a TW limit of 1400lbs., and that's the least I'll have. Plus it's clanky over the bumps with that adapter.
    Last thing I need is an issue when I'm napping and the wife is towing.
    If I break an overloaded bar, I'll definitely crap myself.
    I'm going to get the proper hitch and 1700 lb. bars. Any relief from the dealer will be a bonus.

  6. #16
    Setting Up Camp
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    Quote Originally Posted by deeuubee View Post
    Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Hopefully I can work something out with them.

    I bought a Sherline TW scale. On a quick check, loaded up with water and no M/C, I have 1600 lbs. on the tongue.
    Throw in the M/C, and I can get it down to 1400 lbs. Either way, I'm over the 12K bar limit.
    The 5 hour drive from the dealer was uneventful, but the steering did feel a little light.
    When I go to the scales this week, I'll adjust it to balance the weight best I can and see. It's nice living close to the scales.
    For sure I need the 2.5" shank.
    The one I have has a TW limit of 1400lbs., and that's the least I'll have. Plus it's clanky over the bumps with that adapter.
    Last thing I need is an issue when I'm napping and the wife is towing.
    If I break an overloaded bar, I'll definitely crap myself.
    I'm going to get the proper hitch and 1700 lb. bars. Any relief from the dealer will be a bonus.
    I would also familiarize yourself with the setup of the hitch and double check the dealers work on height and pitch. Had a buddy pull a new rig off the dealer lot where when we brought it to my house and set it up right it sent 400lbs combined back to the trailer and up to the steers on a cat scale

  7. #17
    Seasoned Camper
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    Apr 2019
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    How to adjust tongue weight

    I wrote this up a few years ago, it might help you become more aware.
    You can use your bathroom scales to weigh your tonged weight with the video below. I built it and discovered it was very repeatable.

    ////////

    I was curious about that “10% rule”. You know the one that says whatever you load in your coach you can presume 10% of the weight will be added to the tongue weight. So, I though I’d test that out. After this exercise I'm not so sure about that rule.

    Homemade tongue weight scale:
    I watched this video awhile back and decided to build this apparatus to measure “Trailer Tongue Weight” using a bathroom scale. It took about 20 minutes to build. I calibrated it by measuring several items of known weight (including my own body weight) and it worked perfectly; surprisingly accurate and very repeatable.
    Here's a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMoLA44lcgU

    So, I verified the coach was level and the home made scale was level (it makes a difference if it’s not level) and measured the coach tongue weight at 1145 lbs. I then made a number of weight changes and measured the tongue weight at each step. Below are the steps I took and below that is an image of the coach with the approximate location of each step annotated. Below that is a side view of the coach relatively lined up with the above image to show the location of the axles. Below that, image 3, is my bathroom scale tongue weight setup.

    In step #2 I used my own body weight and had my wife take a weight reading. In step #3 I added a 30 gallon trash can to the rear luggage rack and added 25 gallons of water to it.

    The weight indicated following each numbered step below is the weight after the specific step was completed. example: step #2, 1250 lbs is the weight after the 229 lbs was added.


    #1. 1145 lbs Starting Tongue Weight

    #2. 1250 lbs Added 229 lbs at diagram position #2 (46% of that weight xfred to tongue)
    Removed 229 lbs at #2 back to 1145 lbs tongue weight.

    #3. 1020 lbs Added 200 lbs water on the rear luggage rack. (63% of the 200 lbs reduced tongue wt.)
    Removed the 200 lbs water from the rear luggage rack; back to 1145 lbs.

    #4. 1022 lbs Removed a bunch of tools (168 lbs?) from two front storage compartments.
    (I didn’t actually weight them, however, see #8 below.
    Assuming 168 lbs was removed, 73% of the 168 lbs reduced tongue wt.)
    New tongue weight is 1022 lbs.

    #5. 985 lbs – filled rear gray tank with 30 gal. water (240 lbs) (15% of 240 lbs reduced tongue wt.)
    Dumped rear gray tank; back to 1022 lbs.

    #6. 1055 lbs – filled front gray tank 30 gal. water (240 lbs) (15% of 240 lbs added to tongue wt.)
    Dumped front gray tank; back to 1022 lbs.

    (interruption to science experiment)

    #7. 1045 lbs – Wife cleaned the toilet and dumped unknown amount of water in the black tank so the
    new starting weight is 1045 lbs.

    #8. 939 lbs – moved all the tools from step #4 to the rear luggage rack. Though the actual weight was
    unknown I can assume a 63% reduction in tongue weight as in step 3, therefore the tools
    must have weighed 168 lbs. That seems about right to me, it was several boxes of tools
    and took 3-4 trips.

    Thought it was an interesting exercise and decided to share the results.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Tongue Weight.jpg  
    Dustin and Doris

    2018 2600RB
    2016 Tundra: 5.7L with towing package.

  8. #18
    Seasoned Camper
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    How much weight can you move to the rear?

    I should add this caution: If you move too much weight to the rear of your trailer you will introduce very dangerous un-stability. In a later experiment I added 640 lbs of concrete bags to the "luggage rack" on the rear of the trailer and did some test drives. The tongue weight was way too low with 640 lbs on the rear and the truck/trailer became very unsteady when I jerked the steering wheel just a little. I moved concrete bags from rear to the front storage until things settled down. I discovered the most weight I can shift from front to rear is about 400 lbs. Then I added this Tuscon Sway Control computer as added protection. I don't want the trailer to ever try and pass my truck. I drove several thousand miles with this setup and never had a problem. With some effort you can characterize your own setup and be safe at the same time.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    Dustin and Doris

    2018 2600RB
    2016 Tundra: 5.7L with towing package.

  9. #19
    Setting Up Camp
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    Quote Originally Posted by toolman.dustin View Post
    I wrote this up a few years ago, it might help you become more aware.
    You can use your bathroom scales to weigh your tonged weight with the video below. I built it and discovered it was very repeatable.

    ////////

    I was curious about that &#8 220;10% rule&#8 221;. You know the one that says whatever you load in your coach you can presume 10% of the weight will be added to the tongue weight. So, I though I&#8 217;d test that out. After this exercise I'm not so sure about that rule.

    Homemade tongue weight scale:
    I watched this video awhile back and decided to build this apparatus to measure &#8 220;Trailer Tongue Weight&#8 221; using a bathroom scale. It took about 20 minutes to build. I calibrated it by measuring several items of known weight (including my own body weight) and it worked perfectly; surprisingly accurate and very repeatable.
    Here's a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMoLA44lcgU

    So, I verified the coach was level and the home made scale was level (it makes a difference if it&#8 217;s not level) and measured the coach tongue weight at 1145 lbs. I then made a number of weight changes and measured the tongue weight at each step. Below are the steps I took and below that is an image of the coach with the approximate location of each step annotated. Below that is a side view of the coach relatively lined up with the above image to show the location of the axles. Below that, image 3, is my bathroom scale tongue weight setup.

    In step #2 I used my own body weight and had my wife take a weight reading. In step #3 I added a 30 gallon trash can to the rear luggage rack and added 25 gallons of water to it.

    The weight indicated following each numbered step below is the weight after the specific step was completed. example: step #2 , 1250 lbs is the weight after the 229 lbs was added.


    #1 . 1145 lbs Starting Tongue Weight

    #2 . 1250 lbs Added 229 lbs at diagram position #2 (46% of that weight xfred to tongue)
    Removed 229 lbs at #2 back to 1145 lbs tongue weight.

    #3 . 1020 lbs Added 200 lbs water on the rear luggage rack. (63% of the 200 lbs reduced tongue wt.)
    Removed the 200 lbs water from the rear luggage rack; back to 1145 lbs.

    #4 . 1022 lbs Removed a bunch of tools (168 lbs?) from two front storage compartments.
    (I didn&#8 217;t actually weight them, however, see #8 below.
    Assuming 168 lbs was removed, 73% of the 168 lbs reduced tongue wt.)
    New tongue weight is 1022 lbs.

    #5 . 985 lbs &#8 211; filled rear gray tank with 30 gal. water (240 lbs) (15% of 240 lbs reduced tongue wt.)
    Dumped rear gray tank; back to 1022 lbs.

    #6 . 1055 lbs &#8 211; filled front gray tank 30 gal. water (240 lbs) (15% of 240 lbs added to tongue wt.)
    Dumped front gray tank; back to 1022 lbs.

    (interruption to science experiment)

    #7 . 1045 lbs &#8 211; Wife cleaned the toilet and dumped unknown amount of water in the black tank so the
    new starting weight is 1045 lbs.

    #8 . 939 lbs &#8 211; moved all the tools from step #4 to the rear luggage rack. Though the actual weight was
    unknown I can assume a 63% reduction in tongue weight as in step 3, therefore the tools
    must have weighed 168 lbs. That seems about right to me, it was several boxes of tools
    and took 3-4 trips.

    Thought it was an interesting exercise and decided to share the results.
    Not only does it take copious amounts of time to test as you did but then takes alot of additional effort to document your notes and share them...

    Great work and write up...

  10. #20
    Fireside Member
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    Adirondacks, NY
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    Just an update. Dealer is working with me to get the correct setup.
    The more I look into this, the further into the weeds it goes.

    So the update:
    GD agrees that it's not the right set-up and to get the correct one.
    They do recommend the straight-line WDH for Momentum's, but I think that's based on old info about Resse Hitches.
    Resse says 1500 lb bars are the heaviest for the new Strait-line.
    Resse no longer makes a complete Strait-Line WDH for 2.5" receivers, only Class V 2" (1500 lb TW)
    The most import fact Resse says is: "NOTE: Do not exceed tow vehicle, hitch or equipment rating"

    So, I'm hoping the dealer will find a way to solve my problem.
    I was hoping to get a WDH system that would work for the rare case when I am maxed out at 11,500 lbs. (15%TW = 1725), but
    The max bars they make for the Strait-Line WDH are 1500 lbs. In which case, it has to be another brand hitch.

    As @az_fez_jet says, becoming a "load master" is in my future

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